Personal Theory Evaluation
Vajjha Sri Laxmi Anupama How valid or reliable do you find it? In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business. In her eight scales she combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for succeeding in a global world. By analyzing the positioning of one culture relative to another, the scales will enable you to decode how culture influences your own international collaboration and avoid painful situations. Each scale positions twenty to thirty countries along a continuum and guides you in applying the scale to dozens of situations commonly arising in our global business world. The relative gap between two countries is more important and anyone from any country on the map can apply the book’s concepts to their interactions with colleagues from any other country. What criticism would you have towards it? She has done an extensive research to prove the eight scales, however authenticity matters; if we try to be someone which we are not, it never works. So May be we need to go ahead share as much information as a professional and discuss in detail about personal relationships depending on the comfort zone. Would you ever apply it? Why or why not? I would prefer to use this theory as the eight scale is more relevant to our day to day business environment. Understanding our position on the scale and handling the situations in day to day scenarios is more important. If yes, where and how? I am already living in a multicultural environment; I could use these principles on a daily basis in my professional life. It gives me an idea to approach different people in critical situations. Niina Paasikallio How valid or reliable do you find it? I think the scales used for Meyer's theory are valid since they're based on lots of research across several years and countries. Also all the scales/models have been tested through multiple interviews so it's not just based on a couple of cases or the opinions of a few people. What criticism would you have towards it? It wasn't easy to find any hard data used for creating the models/scales, so maybe that should've been better presented somewhere. Also it's good to keep in mind that the theory was created mainly for business usage to the "business culture" can still be different from the "free-time culture". Would you ever apply it? Why or why not? I liked the tool for testing where I land on the scale. It was interesting and I could use it in the future as well. What Meyer's theory does best is give some broad guidelines and things to keep an eye out for, as long as you also keep in mind that not everybody obviously falls into the exact same mould. If yes, where and how? I'd probably use the scales tool if I knew I was going to be a part of a multicultural team on some long project or if I'd have to give a presentation to a large multicultural audience. Being aware of where these cultures land on the scale (and relative to my own answers) would help me form a picture of what kind of communication is most likely to occur. Anna Grinberg How valid or reliable do you find it? In my opinion Erin Meyer’s theory looks very reliable, because it describes the different cultures in comparison to each other, i.e. in a relative way, which is the only good way to avoid stereotype thinking. The fact that she is using eight different scales, makes the dimension of the comparisons more detailed and therefore more reliable. What criticism would you have towards it? This theory was developed for managers working in an intercultural environment. Therefore it is probably not suitable for non-working settings, e.g. tourism. Would you ever apply it? Why or why not? If yes, where and how? I would apply this theory when working in an international team for better communication with the team members. I think this theory is very good for showing differences between the cultures without offending anyone with cheap generalisations. The best feature of Erin Meyer’s theory is that it is shows how the cultures relate to each other instead of describing, i.e. stereotyping, one culture at a time. Liliana Zuga-Divre How valid or reliable do you find it? I think that Erin Meyer’s work is done very thoroughly and gives a very good model for understanding different nations and the ways in which they differ. Such scales are very useful, especially if they have been researched as well as those that she offers us. Another reason to trust the theory even more for me is that she has not only researched from afar, but she has experienced a lot of nations and cultures on her own skin in the time spend working and living in different countries, in different continents. What criticism would you have towards it? This theory is good for business world, but it may still be largely inaccurate in relation to other types of cultural interaction. Business and culture have different rules from free time and culture. Also, it would be good if the research could be done even more in-depth to cover more nations, as, for now, it’s still limited to a certain number. Would you ever apply it? Why or why not? If yes, where and how? I think I could apply this theory, as it offers some pre-made knowledge of what to expect from different nations in different business situations. It makes it easier to avoid unnecessary conflicts over things that are not supposed to be a problem within the business situation, and it easily helps to avoid misunderstandings. As I am studying Business IT, I assume that Business relations will play a strong role in my life, thus, this knowledge can come in very handy.